46 Chapter 46: Annihilation
The plague casually strolled through the battlefield, throwing a green mist at a few fleeing individuals guided by a feverish gaze. Instantly, they became weak and feeble, vomiting and experiencing diarrhea. Terrifying blisters appeared on their skin and burst open, oozing pus within seconds.
Easily dealt with.
"Feverish, are there any stragglers left?"
"No, there aren't."
"Good, Nightmare, come and extract their memories."
They cleared the battlefield, dragging the survivors over and having Nightmare choose two at random to extract their memories and locate their hideout.
Two minutes later, Nightmare opened his eyes, having ravaged enough in the memories of others.
"I've found their hideout. Give me a map."
Mary placed the map on the ground, and Nightmare circled a location.
"It's right here. They have stockpiled a lot of weapons, and their leader is there... or at least he was when they left."
"Good, no time to waste. Let's move out immediately."
It wouldn't take long for them to reach the location, just seven kilometers away.
After getting into the car, Warren informed Tony that they had found the terrorists' lair.
"Bro, I'm on my way."
Tony removed his armor helmet, preparing for the assault.
"Don't forget you owe me 10 dollars," the pilot chuckled.
"I'll give it to you when I get back. I'm in armor, remember?"
Leap of faith!
Once the vehicle approached, they stopped and proceeded on foot, peering down from the edge of the cliff.
Sure enough, hidden by the terrain, there was a terrorist camp below.
"Advisor, there are over four hundred armed terrorists down there," Feverish reported after counting for a while.
Warren examined the terrain. It was well-concealed, without the risk of being detected by planes or satellites. The mountains on both sides provided great protection.
However, for ordinary people, it would be difficult to descend directly from the mountains without taking the narrow canyon path.
"Red Queen, control Luna to block the southeast direction. Plague, use the toxic mist to seal off the southwest direction."
"Understood."
"Mary, you and Feverish stay up here and block all signals, monitor the battlefield."
"Understood."
"The rest of us will move together. Take good care of yourselves."
"Understood."
"What about me?" asked Nightmare.
"You... You stay here," Warren replied.
Nightmare was not involved in field operations. He hadn't even passed the combat and shooting assessments. He was selected as one of the first Overwatch agents solely because of his extremely useful ability.
"Alright." He knew that going out on a mission would only create chaos as he was weak in combat. It was better for him to stay above.
"Tony, have you arrived?"
"I'm above you."
"Let's begin the operation. Blow up all those weapons."
"Copy that."
Tony started locking onto the stockpiled weapons. Each target within his field of view was circled by J.A.R.V.I.S., and then the mini-missile hive on his shoulder released dozens of missiles to seek their targets.
Boom, boom, boom...
"I've always wanted to do this."
One explosion after another signaled the start of the battle. Warren took the lead, spreading his wings and diving down.
Plague controlled the toxic mist, sealing off a section of the canyon, creating a poisonous area.
Red Queen controlled Luna, guarding the other end. With its firepower, there was no chance of escape for the terrorists unless they had a Mark II suit for every member.
Mountain Cat swiftly followed, but was soon overtaken by the berserk Wild Buffalo.
Ironclad, the most cunning, called on Red Queen to fly him down, and upon landing, he immediately copied a metal ring from his middle finger and transformed into a steel warrior, charging into the enemy camp.
...
A bald man with half of his face burned saw the explosions outside and quietly pulled out his pistol, gently lifting the tent curtain.
Then, he saw hell.
The mythical Niu Tou that collected souls from Chinese mythology was using its Ox Demon's Mighty Fist and Ox Demon's Mighty Leg to deal with his comrades—one punch and one kick, sending each child flying, leaving a bloody imprint on the stone wall.
A graceful figure leaped high in the air, bullets fired from dual pistols in quick succession, causing his comrades below to fall one by one. When he landed, he casually tossed the handguns in the air, allowing the magazines to drop, then he drew two fresh magazines from his waist, and another round of precise gunfire ensued.
If they weren't enemies, he would have applauded. It was too flashy.
In contrast, the other cultist was much plainer, completely transformed into metal. He stood still, not bothering to move, continuously spewing flames and explosive fireballs from his palms.
And there was the fully metalized muscleman and the flying show-off Red Steel Man.
What kind of freaks and perverts were they!
He didn't even have the slightest intention to resist and immediately wanted to escape. Quietly, he snuck out, taking advantage of the cover of obstacles and heading in the opposite direction.
But then, strange green mist churned ahead of him. He fell silent for a moment, then saw the exposed parts of his comrades' faces and hands near the edge of the mist, completely corroded and decayed. Without a word, he turned around and went back.
Bullets whizzed by, flames roared, and the Bull's strength threw his comrades around like baseballs. The metal man withstood the bullets, bending the barrels with his bare hands, while the show-off Iron Man flew back and forth.
He pretended not to see any of it, trying his best to hide himself, sneaking in another direction.
Ahead, Luna had a field of corpses, with no one able to breach its ten-meter radius.
The battered terrorists regrouped for a fresh attack, using several guns and the RPGs they had barely salvaged to assault Luna.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Laser beams swiftly flashed, intercepting the RPGs in mid-air.
The grunts ran out of ammunition, and the ground was littered with ejected bullet casings.
"..."
What kind of black technology was this!
Why could they even intercept bullets!
He couldn't bear to watch his comrades being slaughtered any longer. Luna's firepower was enough that they had no chance to escape, even if every terrorist had a Mark II suit. As an artificial intelligence, Red Queen had considered the cost of "repainting" and the energy consumption of using the laser defense matrix and chose the most appropriate approach.
What did it cost for fusion power reactor energy? Scratches were expensive to repaint. Otherwise, Red Queen wouldn't have bothered with defense and would have just mowed them down.
As for the mini-missiles, they were costly, so if they weren't necessary, they weren't used.
Moments later, he covered his mouth and nose with a headscarf, choosing a section of the mountainside and starting to climb upward.
With the weapons blown up and the smoke thick, he hoped to quietly make his way up without being detected.
...
"Um, are you guys finished?" Feverish asked over the communication channel.
"We're almost done."
"I think so too. So, who's going to deal with the guy climbing the cliff"
"Hmm, is he climbing too slowly?" Mountain Cat chuckled, then raised his hand and fired a shot. "Hurry up! Or I'll put another hole in your backside!"
Bang!
The bullet hit the nearby rock wall, causing the bald leader to tremble, loosening his grip.
"Ah—"
He plummeted downward, but at that moment, a red figure swooped in, grabbing his leg and tossing him back onto the ground.
The faceplate of the armor opened.
"Do you remember me? I've come to make some missiles for you."
Warren didn't interrupt Tony and his old friend's reunion. He glanced around and said, "Nightmare, come down and have some fun."
"Understood."
